BR 



v< 











Class _ 
Book_ 









THE COPY 

OF A 



, 



VALEDICTORY and MONITORY 

WRITING, 

Left by Sarah Goodhue, 

The wife of Joseph Goodhue, of Ipswich, in 

N. E. anqj, found after her decease ; 

full of spiritual experiences, sage 

counsels, pious instructions, 

and serious exhortations : 

Directed to her Husband and Children, with other near 
Relations- and Friends, "•aad- 'profitable \& aU/that 
may* happen to read' the same. ' * 

She tfrafif ilie youngest ;daii£liter .of Eldfr Whipple, 
born at the said Ipstcich, Anno 3 C4i , and, died suddenly, 
(as she presaged she should) July 23, 1681, Three Days 
after she had been delivered of two hopeful Children, 
leaving ten in all surviving. 



Cambridge, New-England :. Printed in 1681. 

Salem : Reprinted by Samuel Hall, 1770. 

Portland : Again reprinted, by request, by 
Jenks & Shirley, 1805. 

Cambridge, New-England : Again reprinted 
by Metcalf & Co., for David Pulsifer, of 
BOSTON, 1850. 






IN JaxcrtANGEf 
N. E . H i 



Une (oofey, qCc . 



DEAR and loving Husband, if it should 
please the Lord to make a sudden change in 
thy family, the which I know not how soon it 
may be, and I am fearful of it : 

Therefore in a few words I would declare 
something of my mind, lest I should after- 
wards have no opportunity : I cannot but 
sympathize and pity thy condition, seeing that 
thou hast a great family of children, and some 
of them small, and if it should please the 
Lord to add to thy number one more or tw 7 o, 
be not discouraged, although it should please 
the Lord to deprive thee of thy weak help 
which is so near and dear unto thee. Trust 
in the living God, who will be an help to the 
helpless, and a father to the motherless : My 
desire is, that if thou art so contented, to dis- 
pose of two or three of my children : If it 
please the Lord that I should be delivered of 
a living child, son or daughter, my desire is, 
that my father and mother should have it, ii 



they please, I freely bequeath and give it to 
them. And also my desire is, that my cousin 
Symond Stacy should have John if he please, 
I freely bequeath and give him to him for his 
own if thou art willing. And also my desire 
is, that my cousin Catharine Whipple should 
have Susanna, which is an hearty girl, and 
will quickly be helpful to her, and she may be 
helpful to the child, to bring her up : These 
or either of these I durst trust their care un- 
der God, for the faithful discharge of that 
which may be for my children's good and 
comfort, and I hope to thy satisfaction : 
Therefore if they be willing to take them, and 
to deal well by them, answer my desire I pray 
thee, thou hast been willing to answer my re- 
quest formerly, and I hope now thou wilt, this 
being the last so far as I know. 

Honoured and most loving father and moth- 
er I cannot tell how T to express your fatherly 
and motherly love towards me and mine : It 
hath been so great, and in several kinds ; for 
the which in a poor requital, I give you hearty 
and humble thanks, yet trusting in God that 
he will enable you to be a father and mother 
to the motherless : Be not troubled for the 
loss of an unworthy daughter ; but rejoice in 
the free grace of God, that there is hopes of 
rejoicing together hereafter in the place of 
everlasting joy and blessedness. 

Brothers and Sisters all, hearken and hear 
the voice of the Lord, that by his sudden 



providence doth call aloud on you, to prepare 
yourselves for that swift and sudden messenger 
of death : that no one of you may be found 
without a wedding garment ; a part and por- 
tion in Jesus Christ : the assurance of the love 
of God, which will enable you to leave this 
world, and all your relations, though never so 
near and dear, for the everlasting enjoyment of 
the great and glorious God, if you do fear him 
in truth. 

The private society, to which while here I 
did belong ; if God by his Providence come 
amongst you, and begin by death to break 
you ; be not discouraged, but be strong in re- 
penting, faith & prayers with the lively re- 
peatal of God's counsels declared unto you 
by his faithful messengers : O pray each for 
another and with one another ; that so in these 
threatning times of storms and troubles, you 
may be found more precious than gold tried in 
the fire. Think not a few hours time in your 
approaches to God mispent ; but consider seri- 
ously with yourselves, to what end God lent 
to you any time at all : This surely I can 
through grace now say ; that of the time that 
there I spent, through the blessing of God, I 
have no cause to repent, no not in the least. 

O my children all, which in pains and care 
have cost me dear ; unto you 1 call to come 
and take what portion your dying mother will 
bestow upon you : many times by experience 
it hath been found, that the dying words of 



parents have left a living impression upon the • 
hearts of Children ; O my children be sure to 
set the fear of God before your eyes ; con- 
sider what you are by nature, miserable sin- 
ners, utterly lost and undone ; and that there 
is no way and means whereby you can come 
out of this miserable estate ; but by the Medi- 
ation of the Lord Jesus Christ : He died a 
reproachful death, that every poor humble and 
true repenting sinner by faith on God through 
him, might have everlasting life : O my Chil- 
dren, the best counsel that a poor dying Moth- 
er can give you is, to get a part and portion in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, that will hold, when 
all these things will fail ; O let the Lord Jesus 
Christ be precious in your sight. 

O children, neighbours and friends, I hope I 
can by experience truly say, that Christ is the 
best, most precious, most durable portion, that 
all or any of you can set your hearts delight 
upon : I for ever desire to bless and praise the 
Lord, that he hath opened mine eyes to see 
the emptiness of these things, and mine own ; 
and to behold the fulness and riches of grace 
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ : To that 
end my children, I do not only counsel you, 
but in the fear of the Lord I charge you all, 
to read God's word, and pray unto the Lord 
that he would be pleased to give you hearts 
and wisdom to improve the great and many 
privileges that the Lord is at present pleased 
to afford unto you, improve your youthful days 



unto God's service, your health and strength 
whilst it lasteth, for you know not how soon 
your health may be turned into sickness, your 
strength into weakness, and your lives into 
death ; as death cuts the tree of your life 
down, so it will lie ; as death leaveth you, so 
judgment will find you out : Therefore be 
persuaded to agree with your adversary quick- 
ly, whilst you are in the way of these precious 
opportunities : be sure to improve the lively 
dispensations of the gospel; give good atten- 
tion unto sermons preached in publick, and to 
sermons repeated in private. Endeavour to 
learn to write your father's hand, that you may 
read over those precious sermons, that he hath 
taken pains to write and keep from the mouths 
of God's lively messengers, and in them there 
are lively messages : I can through the bless- 
ing of God along with them, say, that they 
have been lively unto me : And if you im- 
prove them aright, why not to all of you ? 
God upbraideth none of the seed of Jacob, 
that seek his Face in truth : My children be 
encouraged in this work, you are in the bond 
of the covenant, although you may be break- 
ers of covenant, yet God is a merciful keeper 
of covenant. Endeavour as you grow up, to 
own and renew your covenant, and rest not if 
God give you life, but so labour to improve 
all the advantages that God is pleased to afford 
you, that you may be fit to enjoy the Lord 
Jesus Christ in all his Ordinances. What 



8 



hath the Lord Jesus Christ given himself for 
you ? if you will lay hold upon him by true 
faith and repentance : And what will you be 
backward to accept of his gracious and free 
offers, and not keep in remembrance his death 
and sufferings, and to strengthen your weak 
faith ; I thank the Lord, in some measure, I 
have found that ordinance, a life-making ordi- 
nance unto my soul. 

Oh the smiles and loving embraces of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, that they miss of, that hold 
off, and will not be in such near relation unto 
their Head and Saviour. The Lord grant 
that Christ may be your Portions all. 

My children, one or tw T o words I have to 
say to you more, in the first place, be sure to 
carry well to your father, obey him, love him, 
follow his instructions and example, be ruled 
by him, take his advice, and have a care of 
grieving him : For I must testify the truth 
unto you, and I may call some of you to testi- 
fy against yourselves ; that your Father hath 
been loving, kind, tender-hearted towards you 
all ; and laborious for you all, both for your 
temporal and spiritual good: — You that are 
grown up, cannot but see how careful your 
father is when he cometh home from his work, 
to take the young ones up into his wearied 
arms, by his loving carriage and care towards 
those, you may behold as in a glass, his tender 
care and love to you every one as you grow 
up : I can safely say, that his love was so to 



you all, that I cannot say which is the child 
that he doth love hest ; but further I may testi- 
fy unto you, that this is not all that your father 
hath been doing for you, and that some of you 
may bear me witness, that he hath given you 
many instructions, which hath been to the end 
your souls might enjoy happiness, he hath re- 
proved you often for your evils, laying before 
you the ill event that would happen unto you, 
if you did not walk in God's ways, and give 
your minds to do his will, to keep holy his 
sabbaths, to attend unto reading God's Word, 
hearing it preached with a desire to profit by 
it, and declaring unto you this way that he had 
experienced to get good by it ; that was to 
pray unto the Lord for his blessing with it and 
upon it, that it might soke into the heart and 
find entertainment there : and that you should 
meditate upon it, and he hath told you, medi- 
tation was as the key to open the door, to let 
you in, or that into your heart, that you might 
find the sweetness of God's word. 

Furthermore, my children, be encouraged 
in this work, your father hath put up many 
prayers with ardent desires and tears to God 
on behalf of you all : which if you walk with 
God, I hope you will find gracious answers 
and showers of blessing from those bottled 
tears for you. O carry it well to your father, 
that he may yet be encouraged to be doing 
and pleading for your welfare : Consider that 
the scripture holdeth forth many blessings to 



10 

such children that obey their parents in the 
Lord, but there are curses threatened to the 
disobedient. 

My children, in your life and conversation, 
live godly, walk soberly, modestly, and inno- 
cently : be diligent, and be not hasty to follow 
new fashions, and the pride of life, that now 
too much abounds. Let not pride betray the 
good of your immortal souls. 

And if it please the Lord that you live to 
match yourselves, and to make your choice : 
Be sure you chuse such as first do seek the 
kingdom of Heaven. 

My first, as thy name is Joseph, labour so in knowledge 
to increase, 

As to be freed from the guilt of thy sins> and enjoy eter- 
nal Peace. 

Mary, labour so to be arrayed with the hidden man of the 

heart, 
That with Mary thou mayest find, thou hast chosen the 

better part. 

William, thou hadst that name for thy grandfather's sake, 
Labour so to tread in his steps, as over sin conquest thou 
mayest make. 

Sarah, Sarah's daughter thou shalt be, if thou continuest 

in doing well, 
Labour so in holiness among the daughters to walk, as 
that thou mayest excel. 
So my children all, if I must be gone, I with tears bid 
you all Farewell. 

The Lord bless you all. 

Now dear Husband, I can do no less than torn unto thee, 
And if I could, I would naturally mourn with thee. 



11 



And in a poor requital of all thy kindness, 
if I could, I would speak some things of com- 
fort to thee, whilst thou dost mourn for me. 

A tender-hearted, affectionate and entire 
loving husband thou hast been to me several 
ways. If I should but speak of what I have 
found as to these outward things ; I being but 
weakly natured : In all my burthens thou hast 
willingly with me sympathized, and cheerfully 
thou hast helped me bear them : which al- 
though I was but weak natured ; and so the 
more unabled to go through those troubles in 
my w T ay : Yet thou hast by thy chearful love 
to me, helped me forward in a chearful frame 
of spirit. — But when I come to speak or 
consider in thy place, thy great pains and care 
for the good of my soul. 

This twenty years experience of thy love 
to me in this kind, hath so instamped it upon 
my mind, that I do think that there never was 
man more truly kind to a woman : I desire 
for ever to bless and praise the Lord, that in 
mercy to my soul, he by his providence or- 
dered that I should live with thee in such a re- 
lation, therefore dear husband be comforted in 
this, (although God by his providence break 
that relation between us, that he gave being to 
at first) that in thy place thou hast been a man 
of knowledge to discharge to God and my 
soul, that scripture commanded duty, which 
by the effects in me wrought, through the 
grace of God, thou mayest behold with com- 



12 

fort our prayers not hindered ; but a gracious 
answer from the Lord, which is of great price 
and reward. Although my being gone be thy 
loss, yet I trust in and thro' Jesus Christ, it 
will be my gain. 

Was it not to this end that the Lord was 
pleased to enable thee and give thee in heart 
to take (as an instrument) so much pains for 
his glory and my eternal good, and that it 
might be thy comfort : As all thy reading of 
scriptures and writing of sermons, and repeat- 
ing of them over to me, that although I was 
necessarily often absent from the publick wor- 
ship of God, yet by thy pains and care to the 
good of my soul, it was brought home unto 
me : And blessed be the Lord who hath set 
home by the operation of his spirit, so many 
repeatals of precious sermons and prayers and 
tears for me and with me, for my eternal good : 
And now let it be thy comfort under all, go on 
and persevere in believing in God, and praying 
fervently unto God : Let not thy affectionate 
heart become hard, and thy tears dried away : 
And certainly the Lord will render a double 
portion of blessing upon thee and thine. 

If thou couldest ask me a reason why I thus 
declare myself? — I cannot answer no other 
but this ; that I have had of late a strong per- 
suasion upon my mind, that by sudden death 
I should be surprized, either at my travail, or 
soon after it, the Lord fit me for himself: al- 
though I could be very willing to enjoy thy 



13 



company, & my children longer, yet if it be 
the will of the Lord that I must not, I hope I 
can say cheerfully, the will of the Lord be 
done, this hath been often my desire and thy 
prayer. 

Further, if thou could'st ask me why I did 
not discover some of these particulars of my 
mind to thee before, my answer is because I 
knew that thou w T ert tender hearted towards 
me, and therefore I would not create thee 
needless trouble. 

O dear husband of all my dearest bosom 
friends, if by sudden death I must part from 
thee, let not thy trouble and cares that are on 
thee make thee to turn aside from the right 
way. 

O dear heart, if I must leave thee and thine here behind, 
Of my natural affection here is my heart and hand. 

Be courageous, and on the living God bear 
up thy heart in so great a breach as this. 

Sarah Goodhue. 

Dear husband, if by sudden death I am 
taken away from thee, there is infolded among 
thy papers something that I have to say to 
thee and others. 

July 14, 1681. 



* < % I '/ 






LBkp' 05 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS £ 

022 012 436 8 




